Putting FIBO to Use: Some Brass Tacks

There are a variety of ways to leverage FIBO. We describe how to use it as a schema for representing data in a triple store in conjunction with SPARQL to drive an application. Two main benefits are 1) to improve flexibility compared to applications driven by relational databases and 2) to integrate data from disparate sources.

First, identify an area in your business and the software you have in mind. Identify the data you need and what parts of FIBO can service those needs. You may also have to add some local extensions specific to your needs.

Next, you will want to use SHACL to specify the shape of the triples graph, in terms of what connections are needed for want kinds of individuals. This helps ensure data integrity.

R2RML can be used to map data from existing relational databases into triples that can be queried using SPARQL to drive an application.

• Identify an area in your business where you need additional flexibility
• Identify your data needs and select the relevant parts of FIBO, and extend as needed
• Use SHACL to specify the shape of the graph of triples for data integrity
• Use R2RML to create maps from your RDBs to triples
• Use SPARQL to create FIBO-driven software

Michael Uschold has over two decades experience in developing and transitioning semantic technology from academia to industry. He pioneered the field of ontology engineering, co-authoring the first paper and giving the first tutorial on the topic in 1995 in the UK. As a senior ontology consultant at Semantic Arts from October 2010, Michael trains and guides clients to better understand and leverage semantic technology. He has built commercial enterprise ontologies in digital asset management, finance, healthcare, legal research, consumer products, electrical devices, manufacturing and corporation registration. From 2008-2009, Uschold worked at Reinvent on a team that developed a semantic advertising platform that substantially increased revenue. As a research scientist at Boeing from 1997-2008 he defined, led and participated in numerous projects applying semantic technology to enterprise challenges. He is a frequent invited speaker and panelist at national and international events, and serves on the editorial board of the Applied Ontology Journal. He received his Ph.D. in AI from Edinburgh University in 1991 and an MSc. from Rutgers University in Computer Science in 1982.